Canon EOS RP and focus peaking

I recently wrote a post about focus peaking with the Sony A7c. Had read a blog post stating that the A7c was the best Sony for Leica M Mount lenses and I would agree. So I had adapting manual glass to digital covered. But I was reminded of a sentence in that same write up, “Canon’s new rangefinder system in the RF mount still beats everything else”. Having an RP I ordered up an M to RF adapter for about $16 so I could give it a go.

But after clearing the typical shutter release w/o lens hurdle I had an unexpected surprise. I saw nothing in the EOS RP manual about “Canon’s new rangefinder system”. A brief fit of Googling turned up nothing. Then after some searching on YouTube I found a video detailing a “Focus Guide” option. But this video specifically mentioned the Canon EOS R. No mention of the RP. Went to the Canon EOS R user manual and there it was. Went to the Canon EOS RP and no dice. Ok… No focus guide for me. Focus peaking it is then. Problem? Not necessarily.

I bought the EOS RP first and foremost to put behind the excellent and almost absurdly affordable Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM. Anything beyond that was gravy.
If focus peaking worked well I was good.

I completed setting up my personal manual focus settings across all systems:

Peaking on.
High contrast.
Red highlight color.
Thumb friendly button chosen for focus magnification. “AF On” in this case.

And we are a go. How did it go? Fantastic. Had initial concerns that a lack of IBIS, like Sony, Nikon, or the newest Canon’s have, might be an issue. Unfounded after thinking about it. Makes sense. Of course none of the film cameras I had used with these M Mount lenses before had IBIS. Further they were limited by ISO. And I had no issues with these bright aperture lenses. Even in low light.

*Voigtlander Bessa R2 w/ 7Artisans 50mm f/1.1 and Lomography 400*

Leica CL 50 JAHRE — *Leica CL w/ 7Artisans 50mm f/1.1 and Lomography 400*

Lack of IBIS was not an issue with the Canon EOS RP either. With its wider field of view and slightly more low key aperture I was not concerned about focusing with the 7Artisans 28mm f/1.4. The two that I wanted to test were:

7Artisans 50mm f/1.1

7Artisans 75mm f/1.25

So that is it. Even without the EOS R’s “Focus Guide” functionality the EOS RP gets along just fine with focusing legacy manual focus lenses. Add to that the EOS RP’s excellent ergonomics in hand and I appreciate this camera even more.